Children's Home run by Radical Services Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Some young people remain at this home for far longer than in previous placements and thrive because they make positive attachments and grow in confidence.  Young people experience consistent care because the core staff team remains resilient and committed in the most testing of times. Young people experience stability, no matter how much they try to break down their placements at this home.  Quality of care is effective, as staff pick up key issues in key working. Young people speak openly about their concerns, and this helps their emotional and mental health.  Effective partnership working between staff, police, missing-from-care coordinator and the public protection unit promotes a robust safeguarding response. Young people are safer, with no direct concerns regarding going missing or child sexual exploitation.  Professionals hold the management and staff team in high regard. They say the staff are ‘persistent in trying to get what young people really need’.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person(s) meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

13. The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard, the registered provider must:

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Requirement Due date

(2)(c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. 30 November

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Information about this children's home

The children’s home is run by a private organisation and is registered to provide care and accommodation for three young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 11/05/2016 Full Inadequate 02/12/2015 Full Good

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Good

Young people have good experiences and make significant progress across aspects of their lives and from their starting points. They live in good-quality accommodation and say that the house is very homely, just like a normal family home.

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Good

Young people are adamant that the staff are the best thing about the home. They consistently seek out staff for support, and experience positive relationships and have a strong sense of stability.

p.6

Good

Young people experience highly individualised care, and this gives them a good sense of belonging, particularly during periods of turmoil and aggressive behaviour. Highly committed staff and strong relationships mean that all young people receive positive attention even when they are struggling with their behaviour.

p.6

Good

Young people identify important improvements in their behaviour. Their relationships with staff enable them to talk about their worries and risk-taking behaviours. For example, young people go missing less, and some young people seek out staff to talk about the dangers of drugs and how to seek support to stop taking drugs.

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Good

The manager and staff work hard to explore young people’s backgrounds and needs. Young people grow in maturity because staff have great respect for their previous experiences and the reasons for their behaviour. They have an in-depth understanding of how historical neglect impacts on young people’s self-esteem and their abilities to make attachments with others. Staff say that this understanding enables them to ‘go the extra mile’ for young people. Staff members’ high regard for the mental and emotional health of young people is reflected in detailed key- working sessions and the responses of young people in this inspection.

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Good

Compatibility assessment and planned transition periods are crucial in assessing and monitoring matching between the young people who live at the home. Individuality is embraced by the staff, and they recognise the need to support each young person to pursue their own separate interests.

p.6

Good

Close liaison with social workers enables focused placement planning across all aspects of young people’s lives. The care planning framework places safety and emotional welfare at the forefront of young people’s support packages. Their care is regularly reviewed to ensure that the home works alongside the placing authority to meet and monitor young people’s needs. Staff maintain strong and interactive relationships with young people. Consultation is effective. For example, young people have good self-determination because they discuss and agree activity planners each week with staff.

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Good

Young people also respond well to the emphasis on rewarding positive behaviour. They acknowledge that they keep their rooms tidier and are less angry because they work hard to meet their reward targets.

p.7

Good

Young people acknowledge that at times they may need to be held to keep them, and others, safe. They appreciate being given time and space to calm down. Young people are reassured that they can talk things through with staff when situations are resolved, and relationships with staff remain positive despite instances of extreme and aggressive behaviours by young people.

p.7

Good

Young people find engagement with education extremely challenging. They miss their old school and struggle with new placements. The manager and staff do their utmost to facilitate young people’s learning, and this includes incentives to attend the company’s own education placement.

p.7

Good

Staff try to use young people’s time constructively by enabling young people to develop independence skills. Budgeting and cooking is supported by other practical tasks, such as how to open a bank account, in order to prepare young people for their young adult lives. Independence planning covers a range of practical skills, but this focus on emotional development is essential in enabling young people to manage relationships and is a key factor in their journey to become more independent.

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Good

Young people’s health improves as staff support them to engage with health agencies and address the impact of a history of neglect. They enjoy healthier diets and a range of activities and exercise that promotes their health and welfare. As a result of regular, shared meals with staff, young people no longer keep food in their bedrooms.

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Good

Staff liaise with agencies, such as child and adolescent mental health services, to support young people with their mental health. While some young people are not always keen to engage, staff maintain positive connections in order to develop staff knowledge and to support young people in tackling substance use and smoking addiction.

p.7

Good

Robust medication procedures protect young people’s medical and health needs. Staff keep young people safe by monitoring the administration of prescribed medication when young people may have accessed and used illicit substances. Judgement grade

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Good

Young people are safe and well looked after. The standard of care is good, and there is a strong safeguarding framework.

p.8

Good

Their individual risk-management plans are clear about going missing and other risks, such as self-harm, aggressive behaviours, substance misuse and family contact. Clear strategies are in place and consistently implemented to minimise risk and to improve young people’s behaviour.

p.8

Good

Young people are safeguarded with robust protocols and good liaison with partnership agencies. Local police say that the home ‘effectively’ manages young people who go missing from care, and that good communication results in young people returning safely to the home. There is an effective response when patterns of missing from care become more serious. The manager is swift in meeting with the missing-from-care coordinator and safeguarding manager to ensure that the potential for child sexual exploitation is addressed and monitored.

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Good

Young people benefit from contact with family members. Staff work hard to embrace and maintain positive relationships with family members. As a result, family members with a history of poor relationships with social care services now liaise with staff to ensure that contact arrangements are agreed.

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Good

Behaviour-management plans are detailed and place the child at the centre of staff practice. Attention to detail is good, and strategies connect to each young person. For example, some young people are significantly safer because staff closely monitor their mobile-phone usage, including the amount of time they spend on it and the potential to access inappropriate sites. They understand how staff will help them to manage their behaviour. Strategies such as individual reward charts enable young people to break down each day into a series of manageable targets. They grow in self-esteem because staff are quick and enthusiastic to offer praise and rewards for positive behaviour.

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Good

Some behaviours demonstrated by young people are significantly challenging and may require physical intervention as a last resort. A debrief with the young person is an integral part of behaviour management, and this allows young people to reflect on their behaviour and to closely monitor staff practice where physical intervention has been used. The use of physical intervention has significantly reduced and, as a result, no holds have occurred in the home since May 2016.

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Good

Staff training in behaviour management promotes safe practice when positive reinforcement and reward does not work. Talking about behaviours and restraint helps young people to understand how their behaviours can impact on the safety of themselves and others. There is no longer a reliance on the police to manage difficult situations. Discussions between young people, social workers, youth offending workers and staff give young people good opportunities to rectify challenging behaviours, to make amends and to avoid criminalisation.

p.8

Good

There are no current concerns about bullying at the home. Compatibility assessment puts the potential for bullying as a high priority and promotes young people’s safety and sense of well-being.

p.9

Good

The registered manager left the home following the last inspection in May 2016. An interim, experienced and qualified manager was appointed, who has subsequently decided to apply to Ofsted to be registered. This process is currently ongoing.

p.9

Good

Staffing arrangements in the home meet the needs of the young people. The clear strength of the cohesive staff team is that it is effective in maintaining stability for young people. The majority of staff are not qualified to work with children in a residential setting. However, the manager of the home has ensured that a robust training package has been implemented and that all staff are registered on a diploma course in working with children and young people. They also receive specific training according to the needs of the young people, such as training on drugs and substance use. Regular staff meetings and handover discussions embed consistent practice across the staff team, thus promoting the home’s statement of purpose.

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Good

Individuals receive good information about the service because the home’s statement of purpose is kept up to date. Young people also appreciate the information they receive in the young people’s guide.

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Good

Managers have a clear understanding of the service’s strengths and areas for development. For example, the action plans and management support have gone a long way to addressing all the shortfalls, as identified in the last full inspection.

p.9

Good

Young people grow in confidence and develop good social skills because they are encouraged to express their views, and regularly do so. They experience a positive rapport with staff who calmly listen, but also remind young people about manners and boundaries. Staff work hard to ensure that young people have their needs and rights met and, as a result, young people have confidence in the manager and staff because they are good advocates.

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Good

The home is improving because the manager and staff are open to scrutiny from independent monitoring, the views of other professionals and young people, and to formal inspection. Shortfalls as identified in this inspection were already being addressed as the manager accepts and works on feedback from other agencies.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against ‘Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection’.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of children looked after is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place. However, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or that result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference that adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the Children's

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’. the guidance Raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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